A poor farmer’s son in Assam, ten year old Tenzing left school in class 6 and also his family agriculture. He acquired technical skills through hard work, and in 13 years became a highly skilled and successful mechanic. His mother persuaded him to return home to cultivate their farm.

Most local farmers had switched over from rice and vegetables to tea as it was more profitable. Tenzing began tea cultivation after learning it from other farmers. They told him that only genetically modified seeds with generous use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides could give fast and good yield. Tenzing did so, but suffered from headaches and nausea from spraying pesticide; the poison killed the fish in his pond. When he said he wanted organic agriculture like his parents, tea-growers laughed at him.

Tenzing researched about organic farming online, went to Bangalore to a well-known organic farmer, and took many classes on it but was not satisfied. Finally, he invited a well-known NGO in Canada, ‘Fertile Ground’, to his farm and learnt from them till he was satisfied. After a year of research, he introduced organic tea cultivation in 2007, the only one among over 12,000 tea-growers around.

After initial problems, his cultivation thrived. What about marketing his Organic Tea? Tenzing processed and packed his tea; after much struggle, he succeeded in exporting his Organic Tea. Of his present 25 acres, he grows tea in 7.5 acres, paddy, fruits and vegetables in the rest.

The bordering forest area of his farm, near the Bhutan border, is left unfenced – to grow bamboo and trees for wild elephants. Herds of 70-80 elephants, and other wild animals and birds enjoy those undisturbed forests. WWF has certified his farms as the first ‘elephant friendly farms’.

From his personal experience, Tenzing feels that tea companies coax the farmers to grow only tea, with excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Such ‘chemical’ mono-culture destroys the quality of soil, and health of the farmers and consumers. Tenzing has proved that organic cultivation of seasonal crops with tea can sustain the quality of the land, and the health and self-sufficiency of farmers. He has trained some 30,000 farmers from Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in organic farming, in his farm.

He recommends the ‘one family, one hectare and one cow’ formula to make a family fully self-sufficient. Tenzing says, “I love the jungle, I love every tree. I respect every microorganism, every creature, every animal of the jungle. I am happy with my life.”

• Adapted from ‘The Better India’

Rappai Poothokaren, SJ

The author is a former Director of Gurjarvani centre for communication and currently an environmental activist at Sevasi, Vadodara.